Date: Friday, May 11, 2001

TEN SPRING ATHLETES NAMED TO ALL-NESCAC TEAMS

MEDFORD – Ten Tufts University athletes were named to All-New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) teams in men's tennis, softball and women's lacrosse. These Jumbos were honored following a vote by the head coaches in each sport. The All-NESCAC baseball team will be announced next week.

Senior CF Randee McArdle (East Nassau, NY) was named NESCAC Player of the Year in softball. She leads conference champion Tufts in runs batted in with 35 in 34 games and is hitting .369 with 11 doubles, four triples and six home runs. Tufts is making its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament at the New England regionals this weekend.

Four others joined McArdle on the All-NESCAC First and Second teams. Sophomore C Lis Drake (Chelmsford, MA), junior SS Jen Mackey (Swampscott, MA) and junior 1B Tiffany Trahan (Chelmsford, MA) were all selected to the first team. Junior P Jodie Moreau (Clarksburg, MA) was named to the Second team. Head Coach Kris Talon was named NESCAC Coach of the Year.

Drake, an All-American last season, set a single-season record with her eight home runs this spring and has 32 RBI along with a .357 batting average. Mackey is batting .375 and is tied with McArdle for the team lead in runs scored with 30. Trahan leads Tufts with a .378 average and has hit six home runs with 27 RBI. Moreau won all three games in the NESCAC Tournament, allowing no earned runs and just eight hits in 20 innings to improve to 14-3 with a 1.19 earned run average overall. Talon led Tufts to the NESCAC East Division pennant with a 7-1 record, then guided Tufts to the NESCAC Tournament championship with consecutive wins over Amherst, Williams and Bowdoin. The Jumbos are 26-9-1 entering the NCAAs.

Sophomore David Ruttenberg (Highland Park, IL) was named to the All-NESCAC men's tennis team. Seeded third in #1 Singles at the NESCAC Tournament hosted by Williams College April 27-29, he defeated two-time defending champion Josh Lefkowitz of Williams 6-2, 7-6 in the semi-finals to advance to the championship match. He lost the title to Trinity's Rosty Orach 6-3, 6-4. Ruttenberg,10-3 overall this spring, should receive an invitation to play in the NCAA singles championship tournament at DePauw University in Indiana May 21-23. He won a match at the national championships as a freshman last year.

First team selection Jen Gregorian (Wayland, MA) leads four members of the women's lacrosse team who were picked All-NESCAC. Junior center Christina Orf (Lexington, MA), sophomore defender Kathy Kenney (Needham, MA) and sophomore goalkeeper Ari Kristan (South Windsor, CT) were chosen to the second team. Head Coach Carol Rappoli's squad (9-6) is still playing after advancing to the semi-final round of the ECAC New England Tournament with a 17-8 win over Springfield in the first round. The Jumbos next play Colby College on Saturday at Williams.

Gregorian has scored 49 goals in 15 games, needing one more to become just the fifth player in Tufts history to reach 50. She was tied for the league-lead in scoring with 57 points at the end of the regular season and now has 69 overall (49g, 20a). Orf patrols both ends of the field with proficiency, scoring 27 points (14 goals) and helping the defense to a 7.27 goals against average. Kenney emerged as the team's top defensive player in her second season, while Kristan earned nine wins and posted a 57.9 save percentage.

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